Vaping

[mindtooloud]

Anyone have any thoughts on vaping, and how it can be bad/good for a person? i recently gave up smoking weed by transitioning to vaping and from the research i've done i couldn't find any negatives to it.

[manitou]

Hi Mindtooloud - My husband just died 6 months ago of a stroke (brought on by blockages in his legs leading to an operation which brought on a brain bleed and stroke during an operative procedure).

 

He had been a smoker for maybe 63 years.  He had been getting lung xrays the past years, as he was such a long term smoker.  His lungs were surprisingly fine.  He turned to vaping 2 years before his death, and was successful in giving up the smokes.  During one of the sonograms, or MRI'S, or Xrays they were doing on him toward the end, one of his doctors saw that there had been many changes in his lungs (since he had given up smoking) since his previous xray.  And indeed, about a month prior to his death he had been coughing up a little blood.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that had Joe not died from the stroke, we'd be dealing with lung cancer now (the doc indicated this to me as well).  I sometimes wonder if cancer cells (which may lie dormant in a long time smoker due to all the nicotine and tars in the lungs) are free to metastasize once the lungs have been cleared.  This is just a hunch on my part, I could so easily be wrong.

 

Don't know if this is helpful or not.  While he was vaping, his cigarette hack disappeared, which was a good thing.  But I just wonder in his particular case (because he smoked for so many years) if the vaping was somehow a bad decision for him in that so many changes were visible at the end.  He never felt 'quite right' about the vaping thing either.

 

The very best to you and your health -

[Kar3n]

2 hours ago, mindtooloud said:

Anyone have any thoughts on vaping, and how it can be bad/good for a person? i recently gave up smoking weed by transitioning to vaping and from the research i've done i couldn't find any negatives to it.

What are you actually vaping?

Wax?

Oil?

[Kara_mia]

I guess,  vaping is similar to regular (traditional smoking) in that it has negative effect on health. But may be lesser than traditional cigarettes.

[steve]

Some thoughts, FWTW:

 

Vaping is better for the lungs than smoking but not without negative effects.

Nearly anything we breath into our lungs other than clean air can create issues.

 

Vapor contains fewer irritants and carcinogens than smoke but still can be very irritating and potentially harmful.

The temperature, any vaporized particles and chemicals all can have an effect on the lining of the lung tissues not to mention on other tissues once absorbed into the blood.

This can lead to asthma, bronchitis, cancer, etc...

 

Whatever you are vaping can be either quite pure or heavily contaminated with a variety of solvents, additives, contaminants, etc...

It is important to know what you are inhaling, where it came from, was it analyzed for purity, etc...

There is some good info online about different vape products and their purities.

 

I was a smoker as a teen and young man. Despite quitting in my 20's, I developed asthma at age 40.

Part of that is smoking, part related to where I live (poor air quality), and probably part related to genetics and other factors. Vaping is far less irritating for me than smoking but consistent use will lead to asthma and bronchitis issues for me. 

 

The safest way to ingest cannabis from a health perspective is edibles. They can also be contaminated but they can be easily made at home with minimal expense from organic flowers. The only caveat is that you need to take it very slow, know what dose you are ingesting and what your tolerance is, and be prepared for a much longer high and potentially much more intense experience. If interested, check out the excellent e-book, Wake and Bake: a cookbook by Corinne Tobias - www.wakeandbake.co.

 

I'm not sure of your intention regarding what you are vaping and what you are using it for but I'll add this unsolicited opinion. From a practitioner's perspective, while some intoxicants, like cannabis, can have a limited, favorable effect on consciousness for the purposes of practice for some, I think it is far more likely to become a distraction or obstacle for most of us. Intention and balance are the key. Once such substances have helped us to loosen our conditioned frame of mind, it is far more important to explore our nature with the utmost possible clarity. At this point of development, I think any and all aids will eventually need to be let go. This includes intoxicants but also tools like visualization, mantra, seed syllables, and so on. Once a certain degree of certainty and stability are achieved, one can then work with entheogens and related drugs with more control but at that point they're hardly necessary... at that point they are more of an intentional obstacle to help strengthen our practice.

 

Edited to add:

I just noticed the OP's screen name - mindtooloud

For me personally, cannabis intoxication makes it much more challenging to rest in an open, meditative state than a perfectly clear mind. I more easily get caught on the thought train and it tends to take me farther afield for longer periods. The resting is also very different with far more stimulation from the effects of the drug that obscure the openness and clarity of pure presence. While that may be entertaining, and a part of the enjoyment of being high, it is not conducive to lowering the internal volume... And while we can still rest deeper into pure presence even in states of fairly extreme intoxication, it is far more challenging until we have a very solid root in our practice. Food for thought if your screen name is a clue to your goals in your practice.

 

Good luck on your journey!

_/\_

Edited April 8, 2018 by steve

[mindtooloud]

On 4/7/2018 at 8:13 AM, manitou said:

Hi Mindtooloud - My husband just died 6 months ago of a stroke (brought on by blockages in his legs leading to an operation which brought on a brain bleed and stroke during an operative procedure).

 

He had been a smoker for maybe 63 years.  He had been getting lung xrays the past years, as he was such a long term smoker.  His lungs were surprisingly fine.  He turned to vaping 2 years before his death, and was successful in giving up the smokes.  During one of the sonograms, or MRI'S, or Xrays they were doing on him toward the end, one of his doctors saw that there had been many changes in his lungs (since he had given up smoking) since his previous xray.  And indeed, about a month prior to his death he had been coughing up a little blood.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that had Joe not died from the stroke, we'd be dealing with lung cancer now (the doc indicated this to me as well).  I sometimes wonder if cancer cells (which may lie dormant in a long time smoker due to all the nicotine and tars in the lungs) are free to metastasize once the lungs have been cleared.  This is just a hunch on my part, I could so easily be wrong.

 

Don't know if this is helpful or not.  While he was vaping, his cigarette hack disappeared, which was a good thing.  But I just wonder in his particular case (because he smoked for so many years) if the vaping was somehow a bad decision for him in that so many changes were visible at the end.  He never felt 'quite right' about the vaping thing either.

 

The very best to you and your health -

may your husbands soul be well, 

 

this is a very different perspective i hadn't thought of before thanks for bringing it into light for me, i plan on quitting vaping too it doesn't feel right for me either, i'm just transitioning from one addiction to another until i can get rid of it completely. 

[mindtooloud]

3 hours ago, Kara_mia said:

I guess,  vaping is similar to regular (traditional smoking) in that it has negative effect on health. But may be lesser than traditional cigarettes.

what kind of negative health affects does vaping have on ones health?

[mindtooloud]

On 4/7/2018 at 10:26 AM, Kar3n said:

What are you actually vaping?

Wax?

Oil?

i'm vaping a mix of Propylene Glycol , vegetable glycerin , and aromas. basically the vaping vaping not the weed vaping

[mindtooloud]

1 hour ago, steve said:

Some thoughts, FWTW:

 

 

thanks for your input, i wasn't talking about vaping weed tho, like you said balance and intention are key, and because i can't really find that balance i decided to quit weed cold turkey until later notice, but i couldn't break the addiction, i just turned it into another addiction which was vaping aromatic e liquids.

[ralis]

In any discussion of Cannabis sativa it is apropos to point out the nature of the endocannabinoid system, it's part in the evolution of mammals and the biochemistry of endocannabinoid receptors.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system

 

Quote

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids, which are endogenous lipid-based retrograde neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are expressed throughout the mammalian central nervous system (including the brain) and peripheral nervous system. The endocannabinoid system is involved in regulating a variety of physiological and cognitive processes including fertility,^[1] pregnancy,^[2] during pre- and postnataldevelopment,^[3] appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory, and in mediating the pharmacological effects of cannabis.^[4][5] The ECS is also involved in mediating some of the physiological and cognitive effects of voluntary physical exercise in humans and other animals, such as contributing to exercise-induced euphoria as well as modulating locomotor activity and motivational salience for rewards.^[6][7][8][9] In humans, the plasma concentration of certain endocannabinoids (i.e., anandamide) have been found to rise during physical activity;^[6][7] since endocannabinoids can effectively penetrate the blood–brain barrier, it has been suggested that anandamide, along with other euphoriant neurochemicals, contributes to the development of exercise-induced euphoria in humans, a state colloquially referred to as a runner's high.^[6][7]

Two primary endocannabinoid receptors have been identified: CB1, first cloned in 1990; and CB2, cloned in 1993. CB1 receptors are found predominantly in the brain and nervous system, as well as in peripheral organs and tissues, and are the main molecular target of the endocannabinoid ligand (binding molecule), anandamide, as well as its mimeticphytocannabinoid, THC. One other main endocannabinoid is 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) which is active at both cannabinoid receptors, along with its own mimetic phytocannabinoid, CBD. 2-AG and CBD are involved in the regulation of appetite, immune system functions and pain management.

 

[manitou]

1 hour ago, ralis said:

In any discussion of Cannabis sativa it is apropos to point out the nature of the endocannabinoid system, it's part in the evolution of mammals and the biochemistry of endocannabinoid receptors.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system

 

 

 

LOL.  I couldn't understand a word of that.  Is that good or bad?  

[thelerner]

my 2 cents.

My sister in law smokes and has a hacking cough. From limited research it seems vaping nicotine mixes is not as bad as cigarettes.  In that there are additives and levels of tar and smoke you're not putting into your lungs but you're still sucking in nicotine and whatever other chemicals they're adding to the vape mix.  Thus it seems better then smoking, thus good for transitioning but in no way a healthy habit.  **See Manitou's comment above.

[manitou]

(double post)

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by manitou

[manitou]

7 hours ago, steve said:

Some thoughts, FWTW:

 

Vaping is better for the lungs than smoking but not without negative effects.

Nearly anything we breath into our lungs other than clean air can create issues.

 

Vapor contains fewer irritants and carcinogens than smoke but still can be very irritating and potentially harmful.

The temperature, any vaporized particles and chemicals all can have an effect on the lining of the lung tissues not to mention on other tissues once absorbed into the blood.

This can lead to asthma, bronchitis, cancer, etc...

 

Whatever you are vaping can be either quite pure or heavily contaminated with a variety of solvents, additives, contaminants, etc...

It is important to know what you are inhaling, where it came from, was it analyzed for purity, etc...

There is some good info online about different vape products and their purities.

 

I was a smoker as a teen and young man. Despite quitting in my 20's, I developed asthma at age 40.

Part of that is smoking, part related to where I live (poor air quality), and probably part related to genetics and other factors. Vaping is far less irritating for me than smoking but consistent use will lead to asthma and bronchitis issues for me. 

 

The safest way to ingest cannabis from a health perspective is edibles. They can also be contaminated but they can be easily made at home with minimal expense from organic flowers. The only caveat is that you need to take it very slow, know what dose you are ingesting and what your tolerance is, and be prepared for a much longer high and potentially much more intense experience. If interested, check out the excellent e-book, Wake and Bake: a cookbook by Corinne Tobias - www.wakeandbake.co.

 

I'm not sure of your intention regarding what you are vaping and what you are using it for but I'll add this unsolicited opinion. From a practitioner's perspective, while some intoxicants, like cannabis, can have a limited, favorable effect on consciousness for the purposes of practice for some, I think it is far more likely to become a distraction or obstacle for most of us. Intention and balance are the key. Once such substances have helped us to loosen our conditioned frame of mind, it is far more important to explore our nature with the utmost possible clarity. At this point of development, I think any and all aids will eventually need to be let go. This includes intoxicants but also tools like visualization, mantra, seed syllables, and so on. Once a certain degree of certainty and stability are achieved, one can then work with entheogens and related drugs with more control but at that point they're hardly necessary... at that point they are more of an intentional obstacle to help strengthen our practice.

 

Edited to add:

I just noticed the OP's screen name - mindtooloud

For me personally, cannabis intoxication makes it much more challenging to rest in an open, meditative state than a perfectly clear mind. I more easily get caught on the thought train and it tends to take me farther afield for longer periods. The resting is also very different with far more stimulation from the effects of the drug that obscure the openness and clarity of pure presence. While that may be entertaining, and a part of the enjoyment of being high, it is not conducive to lowering the internal volume... And while we can still rest deeper into pure presence even in states of fairly extreme intoxication, it is far more challenging until we have a very solid root in our practice. Food for thought if your screen name is a clue to your goals in your practice.

 

Good luck on your journey!

_/\_

 

 

Really excellent post, Steve!

 

((consider the book ordered))